Wounds and damage to several skin levels of mammals are of many different types. Burns, chemically induced damage, cuts and slashes, openings to the flesh from surgery, shredding of flesh, wounds oozing pus and other substances, require conditions as aseptic as possible. Circulation of air free of harmful bacteria, and non-contact of the heal area with any other material (including the medical dressing) is desired in numerous instances. Medical dressings should be capable of easy and safe removal to enable inspection of the heal area and application of a clean dressing without damaging the heal area. Such damage can occur during removal of conventional dressings (including, in may instances, dressing having so called "non-stick" characteristics) by tearing or injuring the healing tissue by friction and abrasion, or by adherence of part or all the healing tissue to the dressing being removed.
Medical dressings should also protect the heal area from further damage which might result from contact with external objects, such as accidental impact of the heal area against an object, the force of which is transmitted through the medical dressing and aggravates the damage to the wound, in some cases opening the heal area which has begun to close and heal. When the patient is sleeping, accidental contact with other objects may damage the heal area when conventional dressings are used. Patients such as young children or pet animals may attempt to scrape the medical dressing against other objects, either to relieve itching, or because of their aversion to having the medical dressing attached to their body. If the medical dressing rests directly on the heal area, such action by the patient can aggravate the damage of the heal area. The dressing should permit application of liquids or ointments to the heal area to assist the healing process, yet not come into contact with such medicines nor absorb them. Medical dressings ideally should serve all these healing and protective functions. In some situations, the pressure of a conventional bandage can help clotting of small bleeding wounds not requiring sutures. However, when bleeding from such minor wound has ceased, the conventional dressings are subject to the disadvantages discussed above, namely that they interfere with the wound and healing process.
Conventional medical dressings often have a gauze layer which attempts to fulfill a dual function of permitting air to flow to and from the heal area and to absorb liquid type materials from the wound. However, once the gauze has absorbed liquid materials such as blood which soon congeals and hardens, the gauze obviously ceases to serve the function of permitting air to flow to and from the heal area. Moreover, the gauze may adhere directly to the wound.
Additionally, medical dressings should be easy to apply even by persons untrained in medicine, and be easy to form into desired shapes to house the heal area and free the heal area from contact with the medical dressing.
Further, medical dressings ideally should be capable of mass production at moderate costs and convenient packaging and storage if they are to fulfill the goal of widespread use by non-medical persons to better protect heal areas not requiring medical attention but which are not adequately protected by existing mass produced non-prescription medical dressings.
Also, medical dressings should be of sufficient sophistication that persons trained in medicine have great flexibility in shaping the dressings in a manner that best serves the patient's needs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved medical dressing overcoming the disadvantages of the known dressings described above.